


Let's Get To Work

by Airplanesandcookies (Mosgirllee)



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Evidence that I watch way too much HGTV, Gen, M/M, handyman!dex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-08-28 05:45:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8433994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mosgirllee/pseuds/Airplanesandcookies
Summary: It was Bitty's idea to record it.  
or the AU where Dex has a vlog.





	1. Let's Get Started

It was Bitty’s idea to record it.

“Alright, I’m only going to do this once, so pay attention.” Dex says while pointing a wrench at the camera. There is a mumbled chorus of agreement from half of the hockey team standing off screen.

He gently clangs the wrench against the puce green bathroom tile in the upstairs bathroom. “Look, there are just rules. For example, a good shower curtain only has to be good enough to hold up a heavy curtain or two. It will never be strong enough to hold up 200 lbs for pull-ups. That’s why we are going to install a pull up bar over a few doors later this month. Right now, let’s learn from this.” Dex points the wrench at the camera again, “And what did we learn?”

From behind the camera, Chowder pipes up, “Shower curtain are not pull up bars.”

“That’s right. Now, in order to fix this, we will need to reinstall the shower bar, replace this disgusting bathroom tile that was busted when the shower rod fell, and while we are at it, we might as well re-grout the tile and replace that frankly atrocious excuse for the shower head. 

Bitty turns the camera towards the crusted over standard shower head that must have been installed when the HAUS was new 30 years ago. It sadly protrudes too far out from the wall and there is one spigot that sprays water hard enough to pierce skin. Everyone who takes a shower has to stand closer to the wall to avoid it.

Dex is just looking at it with a steel eyed frown. “I mean, come on guys - Shower heads are not expensive and I’m surprised any of you can even rinse off completely. That’s just sad.”

There is more murmured agreement. 

“Let’s get to work, guys.”

It takes about three weekends to complete the bathroom even with Dex pulling in any team member who happened to have a free half an hour to work. And once done, Dex has transformed the horror show of a bathroom into something quite impressive for only about $300 bucks of supplies. 

Really, in the end, Bitty was able to edit the video into five different projects; 1) how to repair and replace tile, 2) installing a shower rod, 3) installing a shower head, 4) grouting tile, and 5) replacing faucets. There is also a hilarious video of outtakes that just include Dex yelling at Nursey, “For the love of God, how did you break more tile?”

The Vlog, “Let’s Get To Work” has 5000 followers after the first week, 2000 more a week later when Bitty uploads Dex installing a ceiling fan in the attic while Holster and Ransom stand off to the side wide eyed and looking absolutely amazed. 

“Who did this wiring? Jeez, this is a freakin’ fire trap.” Dex says, with a flashlight in hand as he stands on a ladder. 

He’s wearing a t-shirt that rides up on his torso. And the camera just very slowly starts to pan in on the light trail of red blond hair below his belly button. Bitty, being a gentleman, edits out the footage, but makes a note to talk to Nursey about framing.


	2. October

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween EpiKegster will be Epic thanks to our favorite handyman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this last week, but I didn't finish it until recently. 
> 
> This is unbeta'd.

“Poindexter!” 

Bitty grabbed his phone and flipped on the camera.  This should be good.

Ransom and Holster each threw an arm around Dex’s shoulders as they walked out of Faber and started walking to team breakfast.

“My man.” Holster began.  “Halloween this year is on a Saturday.  With a home game that Friday.  Do you know what this means, my dear Frog.”

Ransom saw his cue.  “Halloween EpiKegster!” 

Holster nodded.  “I’m thinking Costumes.” 

“We have ideas.” Ransom whispered.

“Haus decorations.” 

“Bigger and better than the Lax bros.”

“Like, we need to hook the Haus up.  Can we count on you to help us out.”

“Cough, dibs, cough cough.” and Ransom winked.

Dex sighed.  “What do you have in mind?”

_/\\_

“Alright, lets go through the list one more time.” Dex said, standing in front of the Haus inhabitants.

“Lardo, you and Bitty are in charge of carving pumpkins for the Zoetropes.  Lardo, you have the templates?” 

Lardo nodded.  “They will be creepy and hypnotic as fuck.  I’m putting them in my art portfolio.”

Dex pointed to the team captains.  “Ok, you guys wanted creepy.  We have 20 generic Halloween props throughout the Haus that we got from the stores.  I’ve opened them up and hooked them up to an Arduino microcontroller.  Now, our goal is to situate them throughout the Haus.  So, I need you guys to figure out the timing and what you want it to happen.  Do you want them the flash during a particular song?  Do you want them to light up in anyone gets near the stereo system.  Figure that out and get back to me.

“Chowder, how’s the automated entrance display going?”

Chowder looked up from his laptop.  “I think I’m all done.  I buried some of the pressure plates and flexible RGB strips in the yard.  Everything is hooked up to the the micro controller board.  All we have to do is set the song.”

“Excellent!  Let’s get to work, we have only a few days before Halloween.”

The group dispersed, and Nursey saddled up next to Dex.  “Hey, got a few minutes to help me with my costume?”

_/\\_

“Jeez, did Bitty tell you guys just to record me at all times?” Dee complained, face completely red to the tips of his ears.

Nurse smiled, “Basically.”

He stood in the middle of his single dorm room, in a high collared skin tight black pleather cat suit that left hardly anything to the imagination.  

“Okay, So I bought a few of the Electro something something Tape Kits.  Now I have no idea how to actually make me look like a Tron character.  Can you help me attach all of the tape?”

Dex was staring between the floor and the door.  “Ummm, I mean, yeah, I guess, but I should probably read the instructions or whatever.”

Nursey shrugged, “It’s all good.  The instructions are on that webpage.  It just all started to run together near the end for me.  Plus, there is no way for me to tape all of the wire to my back.  It looks like it’s best to attach the tape while I’m wearing the suit to maximize placement.” he said, flexing.

“You want me to highlight your hockey butt.”  Dex said, it wasn’t a statement.

All told, it took about three hours for Dex to map out the tape’s path around Nurse’s body to and attach the wiring to the suit.  Nursey, was blessedy quiet during the entire procedure which Bitty no doubt would appreciate for editing purposes.  The end result was extraordinary.

“Holy shit!  I look like I could have been in the movie!  Dex, this is fantastic!”

Dex was pretty proud, but he merely shrugged.  “It looks alright.”

“Dude!  It’s better than alright.  Shit.  If I look this good, what are you going as?” Nurse asked, turning around to admire the suit in the mirror.  

“Uh, I haven’t even thought about it.  I guess a handyman?” He suggested.  A moment later, a Derek threw a tape kit at him.  

“I did buy two.  And…” with a flourish, he pulled out another cat suit.  “I bought two sizes just in case - I’m wearing the bigger one, but you should be able to fit this one.”

_/\\_

After the party, Bitty sat down and started editing all of the video for the vlog.  

He quickly pulled out and edited the videos on the decorations, but had to pause when it came time to edit the Nursey costume videos.  

“Jack, I have no idea what to do with this.”

“What’s exactly wrong with it?” Jack asked, tinny over the phone’s speaker.

“It’s just that I’m not sure if I should try to cut, speed it up, or add soft core porn music.”

“That bad, huh.”

“I’m not sure how they managed to film this without the camera steaming up.  It’s just 5 hours of them feeling each other up.”

Jack, always practical.  “Well, maybe take some stills, the more innocent looking moments and then just focus on the end project?”

Bitty nodded.  “Yeah, good idea.  Otherwise, people might get the wrong idea about this vlog.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The project mentioned in this chapter are real:
> 
> 1) Jack O Lantern Zoetrope: http://makezine.com/projects/halloween-2016-carve-jack-o-lantern-zoetrope/
> 
> 2) Arduino controlled props: http://www.instructables.com/id/Control-Your-Halloween-Decorations-With-Arduino/
> 
> 3) Choreograph a Music and Light Display for the Holiday: http://makezine.com/projects/choreograph-a-music-and-light-display-for-the-holiday/
> 
> 4) Light up Tron Costumes: http://www.ellumiglow.com/how-to-make-your-own-light-up-tron-costume


	3. Haus Couch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You would be surprised, but that couch has some good bones and solid construction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been meaning to update this story for a while and the little extras posted today (http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/163155190097) meant that I was inspired. 
> 
> As always, all characters and the couch belong to Ngozi.

“Yo, so check it,” Nursey began, pointing his fork towards the living room. “Dex has a ridiculously popular fix-it vlog that he pretends he’s not interested in filming, but Chowder and I both have caught him checking out his hit counts on roadies.”

Ford took out her notepad and began writing in rapid fire but very precise print, “I’ve seen it. The folks in the props department adore him. His window repair video saved our butts during our production of Romeo and Juliet.”

“Ha! Then you know what’s up then. Cool. Then what you need to know is that these videos are never staged. Basically, everyone on the team that has a cell phone just knows to hit record once they see Dex glare at something or pulls out his toolkit.”

Ford paused her writing, “He doesn’t stage these? But his videos are so clear and precise!”  
“I know! It’s crazy, right! He is just that methodical. He glares at the problem, whoever has the camera just has to ask some basic questions.” Nursey took a bite of his pie. If you get him talking and he’ll basically walk you through the entire process from picking the right tools to fixing whatever, and then he summarizes because he knows we are going to probably break it again.”

Nursey began to take another bite before pausing to look out into the living room. “You got your camera? I think I recognize that look.”

Ford dutifully took out her phone, walked into the living room doorway and hit record. 

Dex was glaring at the green couch while Chowder looked on, less irritated. 

“I don’t know, after that party this weekend, it just feels saggy in the middle. I can’t get a good nap on it anymore.”

Dex began pulling the cushions off of the couch and stacking them neatly in the corner. “I think I saw some drunk lax bro jumping on it. But, if you think it’s sagging, we need to check the frame for damage and then check the cushions. Help me flip it over.”  
The front door lock turned and Bitty walked in with a backpack slung over one shoulder. “Dex, tell me that you aren’t trying to fix that couch. It doesn’t deserve such attention.”

Nursey bumped Ford with his shoulder and wordlessly pointed her to focus the camera on Bitty’s interaction with Chowder.

It was Chowder’s turn to glare. “This couch has been a part of my pre-game ritual since I joined the team. It needs to stay at least until I graduate. 

Bitty was not impressed, “It should be declared an ecological disaster. I think it’s held together with BO and butt sweat. Who even knows what type of creatures are living in it. It has its own ecosystem.”

“It has the butt sweat of the great goalies before me. It stays.”

Bitty pinched his nose, “Chowder, we can get a nicer couch. With better back support and one that hasn’t been doused in beer. I bet this couch is a fire hazard.”

Dex looked up and motioned for Nursey to come over. “I thought that you told me to stay away from, and I quote, ‘any and all Haus projects.’. 

“Yeah yeah, help me filp this over before Bitty DIYs a flamethrower.”

Nursey walked over to the other end of the sofa and helped to tip it forward gently. Dex pulled out a flashlight and a pair of pliers and started to pull staples out of the bottom to examine the frame underneath the dust fabric. 

Ford got a closer shot as a video game controller fell out of the bottom.

“Is that a super NES controller? Nevermind, I don’t want to know.” Dex began, “Alright, from the looks of this, this is a solid piece of furniture. Don’t get me wrong, the cushions should be washed and re-stuffed, but the frame is nice and solid. The springs at first glance are still holding up, but a few probably could be bent back into shape. My big repair though is going to be this broken slate of wood back here. It looks like an easy fix, but we are going to have to strip it down.”  
“Not without a gas mask you aren’t!” Bitty called from over in the corner. “Dex, we can literally just buy a new couch. In fact, you let me put it on the curb, whatever pie you want for a year.”

Chowder rolled his eyes, “Oh come-on! You would make his favorite pie anyway! I need that couch.”

As they continued to bicker, Nursey looked over at Dex, “Who’s side are you taking?”

Dex looked over at his friends argument get louder and louder and at Ford filming there back and forth, “Chowder. I need his help with the CS 344 homework set. You?”

Nursey shrugged, “Bitty. I get where he’s coming from and he has the ability to starve an entire hockey team. I can’t go back to the cafeteria chicken tenders.”

Dex smirked and then looked at Ford’s camera. “So, we are looking at a replacement board and reupholster project. We’ll need to make a trip to the hardware and fabric store. Furniture restoration can be pricey, but I think we can reinforce this couch to get through another two years at least, barring no one else jumping on it. Let’s get to work.”

“Traitor!” Bitty yelled as he headed up the stairwell, “I’ll never forget this, William!”

Dex blanched for a moment before Nursey slapped him on the back. “He’ll forgive you, eventually. Plus, I won’t let my roomie starve.”

Dex glanced over at Nurse, “I wasn’t worried.”  
“Liar. It’s all on your face.”  
“What, you going to sneak me pieces of pie.”  
Nursey rolled his shoulders, “Of course. And chicken tenders. But not the mayo you insist on dipping them in. That’s disgusting.”

Dex pivoted to look Nurse in the face, “It’s delicious and you know it.”

“If you say so.”

“Yeah, I say so…”

Ford watched at Dex and Nursey continued their argument into the kitchen. She pushed pause on her camera, pulled a pen from behind her ear and started writing in the small notebook she kept in her pocket. “Hockey players get emotional over ugly green couch - must preserve.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was a tumblr ficlet that was inspired by a conversation between violacakes and dexnurseyheadcanons.
> 
> Check, Please and characters belongs to Ngozi. She’s amazing.


End file.
